Aboriginal Artist of the Month: Iconyx
Meet Iconyx, a 18 year old a proud Kukutja Pintupi woman based in Boorloo. As an artist, she’s a passionate songwriter, rapper, multi-instrumentalist and producer. As a young artist who is stomping through life proudly without sight, her music is her way of connecting to country, heavily influenced by her experiences, family and mob.
Iconyx calls herself a storyteller, who loves the way music connects her to new people, so they can see who she truly is.
“It’s (music) like bringing people back to a time, where there wasn’t fighting, there wasn’t racism, where there wasn’t anything except for stories, music and dancing.
“It’s a piece of what I’m living, a piece of the arts I’m connected to, and it’s a very big part of me. It’s like I can share that with the world and give them of a piece of me”
Since she was five, Iconyx has loved everything about music, “I’ve always loved music, I can’t tell you an exact time, but its been my whole life.
“I wrote my first song when I was 10, and then we (her producer) both thought oh, we could keep going with this, so we decided to make an album.
“So then a years long project was born, we started when I was 12 and the album finally got released last year”
Her debut album titled ‘Blak on Trak” was released to acclaim late last year, winning two Western Australia Music awards and with her music being recognised across Apple Music, Triple J Unearthed and The Rolling Stone magazine. Her debut album is mixed genre, filled with a mix of music highlighting her lens on life as a young Aboriginal woman.
The album is named after a single from the album, that Iconyx says was a catchphrase she was particularly proud of, that felt like something mob could get around.
“There are just songs that everyone knows, it just gets stuck in their head, and we were trying to go for that, but we also wanted something in the style of my other stuff.
“You know like storytelling, and uplifting that’s what I’m looking for.
“And we basically thought, oh well, what’s more uplifting then mob? Who’s gonna have your back? Mob like, you see when you go out, mob will walk past each other and be like hey aunty, hey sis, hey brother.
“They’ve always got your back- so we decided to write a song about that”
When describing her success, Iconyx says it feels pretty surreal, and there is nothing quite like it- apart from being up on stage where she thrives.
“It was crazy last year, winning the Indigenous category and the Act Belong Commit category”
Iconyx is thrilled to be jumping back on stage for the upcoming RTR FM’s In The Pines, on April 19th, a gig she has always dreamed of playing. She will also be playing at Boss Crew Boorloo- where every Thursday in April, from 12pm – 2pm, Yagan Square will transform into a centre stage for creative Indigenous talent – with a fresh lineup of modern, dynamic dance and music lighting up the precinct each week. Iconyx will be performing on the 30th of April.
Iconyx is in for a bigger year of music, shows and now TV- where she will be featured as a contestant on ABC’s The Piano season 2, which is streaming on ABC Iview.
To keep up with Iconyx follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iconyx.au/
To watch her interview head to: https://www.instagram.com/wungening/